Beverage cans usually have a horseshoe-shaped predetermined breaking line which bounds a wall region on which a ring-pull tab is fastened. If such a beverage can has been opened by virtue of the tab being actuated, it is no longer possible to close it effectively, which, in the case of carbonated drinks, results in the can contents having to be consumed rapidly or the drink otherwise going flat.
In order to eliminate this shortcoming, it is already known (from DE 196 13 256 A1) to provide a lid-like closure element which has engagement elements which interact in the manner of the bayonet closure with mating engagement elements on a cylindrical wall of the can, the so-called core wall, in order thus for a drinking or pouring opening made in the can to be closed in an airtight manner. In order to produce this pouring opening, the closure element has arcuate pressure-exerting elements which engage in a canal of the lid wall of the can and, when the closure element is rotated, slide onto an obliquely upwardly sloping pressure-exerting surface of the canal in order thus to break open the predetermined breaking line which extends around the edge of the lid wall of the can. The disadvantage with this configuration of the beverage can-is the fact that the shape of the outline differs from that of the conventional beverage cans, with the result that it is not possible to stack these beverage cans with conventional beverage cans. During use, moreover, the closure element has to be removed from the beverage can in order to free the pouring opening.
A container as known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,432 is provided with a flat lid wall having a depression with a sloping surface wherein a tongue extends downwardly from an additional rotary lid closure. The container lid wall comprises a predetermined breaking line which encloses a circular section and a narrow arcuate section, the predetermined breaking line being interrupted in the circular section at a position which is opposite to the narrow arcuate section. When the additional rotary lid having the tongue on it is rotated, the tongue initially enters into the narrow arcuate section and then into the circular section and breaks the breaking line so as to pivote the wall flap so formed into the interior of the container. The wall flap is thereby bent at a position which is arranged between the ends of the predetermined breaking line. There is the danger that the lid wall makes a bulging or swell at this position so that no flat engagement exists with the wall of the rotatable lid and no good sealing can be expected.
A tin having a pair-of cap-shaped portions, each of which being surrounded by a predetermined breaking line can be opened with the help of an additional cover to be placed on the tin and having rising edges for opening the cap-shaped portions (see ˜EP-A-0,340,835). The additional cover also comprises a pair of cylindrical parts which may be plugged into the openings of the container lid when the same have been opened by breaking the circular breaking lines in the container lid. It is doubtful whether or not such an opening can be sealingly closed in such a manner.
A beverage container is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,427 which has drinking and pouring openings formed by slots parallel to one another, and a rotatable cover for forming the slots into the container lid and for covering same. Sealing of the beverage container which has been opened is not possible by this cover.
A further beverage container is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,633 which has a rotary lid closure and a fixed container lid including a circular raised region surrounded by a predetermined breaking line. The rotary lid closure comprises an opening corresponding to the outline of the breaking line and a raised portion or emboss having a sloping surface which narrowly encompasses the raised region of the container lid. When rotating the rotary lid closure, the raised region of the container lid is sheared off along the predetermined breaking line.